LOST TOGETHER
Eighteen months ago, Architects suffered an unimaginable tragedy that threatened to derail them for good. As a new year dawns, they prepare to finally take their next steps
As Architects rebuild their world following the loss of Tom, we discuss the grieving process, new music… oh, and that little Ally Pally gig…
Sam carter is casually tossing a parachute flare into the air, as his bandmates in Architects look on in horror. the flares we’ve found for today’s photoshoot were manufactured in 1983, meaning they’re older than the singer himself, and no one’s quite sure what will happen if he ignites one. maybe nothing. or maybe a burst of flame will annihilate the studio, causing a swift evacuation and landing Metal Hammer with a hefty bill.
“I desperately want to set them off!” the singer grins mischievously. “It’s because I’ve been told not to. It’s sort of like when you’re told not to press a button and you instantly want to press it...”
he’s upbeat today as we chat in Architects’ hometown of Brighton, where the band have been hard at work writing new material – something fans weren’t sure would happen, given guitarist tom Searle’s tragic death from cancer in August 2016.
But a year on from their loss, the band announced a European tour, culminating in a show on February 3 at london’s 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace – twice the crowd of their biggest UK show to date. Whispers began to circulate about whether music would soon follow. less than two weeks later came the surprise-release of Doomsday, a standalone single that honestly and beautifully detailed the pain of grief. It was accompanied by a moving video featuring tom’s twin brother, drummer Dan, suspended in the expanse of the universe. the message was clear: Architects were striding confidently into a bright new future.
“I’m relieved and pleased people connected with Doomsday,” says Dan, talking frankly and humbly as he sits beside Sam for our chat. “It’s very meaningful for us, and it was nice to feel like we were moving forward, and that things were going to be oK.”
the band posing for pictures in our studio today, completed by bassist Ali Dean, and guitarists Adam christianson and Josh middleton, have still got a hard road ahead of them. But behind the scenes, and away from the glare of fans and social media, they’ve been taking steps every day. Dan in particular began writing lyrics for their eighth album immediately after his brother passed away.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself, I suppose, but also part of me felt like I should really document what this feels like,” he explains. “Because at some point, everyone loses someone, and maybe other people would hear these words and it would resonate with them. And if it’s then put into context of a record that’s documenting a whole year of grieving, maybe they could see that they might move into a space in their life where they feel more positive.”
Dan was unprepared for the trauma of losing his twin. Encouraged by his wife, he had therapy during the final days of tom’s life, and is still going now. “my first session was really, really hard. obviously the days before tom died were really bizarre and surreal and very difficult, but I was sort of in shock to some degree as well, just deer-in-the-headlights,” he remembers. “I had needed it for a long time, though. Because I was taking care of tom, and I was so sure that he would be oK, I kind of… I kind of get obsessed with things as a way of not dealing with my problems. the problem was tom was sick. But my obsession was getting him better. So I never really dealt with the fact that he was sick.”
After tom passed away, Dan transferred his obsession to the band, and onto writing.
“Something like your brother dying, you can’t really comprehend all that in one breath. You need to chip a bit off that subject as a whole, and examine that little bit,” he reasons. “And I’m still working through it.”
Sam had gone into therapy after recording All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us in 2016. Screaming lyrics about death and destruction had left him with stress headaches and a heavy sense of mortality, presumably compounded by tom’s illness, which was kept secret from the outside world
“I NEVER DEALT WITH THE FACT THAT TOM WAS SICK”
DAN WENT TO THERAPY TO COPE WITH LOSING HIS TWIN
at the time. he hasn’t been able to face therapy since tom died, but is about to start it again.
“there were points on the last tour, and around Doomsday, where I was completely burnt out,” he admits, retreating into the comfort of the grey hoody pulled tightly around his face. “I don’t think I realised the weight of the things I was saying onstage every day about tom, and I went into autopilot. I was bringing stuff up that I wasn’t really talking about with anyone, and onstage was not the easiest place to do it.”
currently also dealing with a break-up from his long-term girlfriend, he’s coming to terms with the notion it’s normal to experience hurt, and it’s fine to openly admit to struggling with your feelings.
“there’s a lot of stuff going on in my life and head, but it’s not all to do with tom,” he says. “I think one thing I’ve learned through our little Architects family is to just be honest with each other, and it’s oK to not be happy all the time. the way that I always used to deal with everything is to try and be the joker of the pack, and if I’m not joking then I’m in a bad mood. It’s oK to not be oK.”
“I think that will be a focus on the record,” picks up Dan, gently protective of Sam throughout the conversation. “All of us guys have suffered a lot since tom died and before tom died, so the record is addressing that. What it is to suffer, and how you use that. Do you just feel sorry for yourself, do you just be a victim of life, or do you look at it and use it to inspire yourself to be a better person – to live life. Part of the process is to acknowledge that you’ve been through a nightmare. And you’re gonna need to cry, you’re gonna need to sit with that pain and acknowledge it, and not pretend it’s not there.”
When Architects went to tour Australia with Bring me the horizon three weeks after tom died, and just two weeks after his funeral, emotions were volatile. Still trying to process their bereavement, there were tears onstage as well as off. Sam and Dan stress the need to destroy the cultural barriers that stop men expressing emotion in front of people, to break the mental health stigma and to shed the alpha male identity inherited from their fathers’ generation.
“It’s funny,” says Sam. “talking onstage about tom, I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to show that side of me. But it’s a human emotion.
I’m talking about something so honest.”
“IT’S OK NOT TO BE HAPPY ALL THE TIME”
SAM’S LEARNED THAT HE CAN BE HONEST ABOUT HIS FEELINGS
Dan agrees: “Do you know what? What I’ve learned, over and over since tom died, every time a man is honest and shows his emotions, it’s not ridiculed ever – it’s always applauded,” he notes. “Yet we still resist it. ‘God, what are people going to think?’ ‘oh, that guy’s crying because his brother or best friend has died. What a fucking loser!’ Who’s going to think that? People understand.
“People will say I shouldn’t speak about it because I’m not an expert, but I see a lot saying there’s a mental health crisis. And I think a large part of it is down to swallowing our emotions. And then when those emotions do come up, we don’t know how to deal with it. So we get drunk, or do drugs or whatever, because we’d rather do that than feel pain. And sometimes I just need to feel 10 minutes of pain and then I’ll be oK. I think people like us need to demonstrate that to generations coming ahead of us.”
Although Dan freely poured his thoughts into lyrics during those early days, attempting to crystalise his experience of grief for the benefit of himself and others, doubt nagged at his mind. Standing onstage at Brixton Academy for an emotional gig in front of 5,000 people, three months on from the biggest trial of his life, he didn’t know whether the band had the ability to write music together anymore. then Josh, the band’s longtime friend and former Sylosis guitarist, who was brought in to take up tom’s position, sent through a couple of tracks that were “just a bag of riffs”.
Dan found he was able to chop them up, restructure them, and add more of Architects’ character – much like he had done with tom on a clutch of songs from 2016’s All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. the tension lifted.
“It was a similar process, but working with a different person who I have a very different relationship with,” Dan says. “And Josh has learned to collaborate, because with Sylosis he had dominion over the whole project. he’s grown into that role, and got better and better as he’s found what works best for Architects.”
they selected Doomsday from 10 rough songs, and then added the vocals, trying to strike a balance between staying true to their sound and “turning heads” with new ideas – something they’re aiming for in their future music.
“tom wanted to do something different on the next record,” reveals Dan. “there was a feeling that on the last two albums, we could have diversified a bit more. We were really pleased with [2014’s] Lost Forever // Lost Together. the funny thing is, we just wanted to write a really heavy album, we didn’t do it to get big, so we felt like we struck gold, because it was